I hope all my readers will welcome, former Governor Doug Wilder of Virginia, to the blogosphere. He has entered with his own blog called Wilder Visions. Wilder was the first African-American to be elected Governor and of Virginia, the former lead state of the Confederate States of America, in 1989. Then in 2004, Wilder was elected the first Mayor of Richmond, the former Capitol City of the C.S.A. The grandson of slaves, he was named after abolitionist-orator Frederick Douglass.

Governor Wilder has always been a visonary and a fighter for the constitutional liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. But Wilder has worked within the existing power structures to bring about change. He has accomplished more than most. Most of all, he’s been a good example of what a good citizen is and should be. He has been an inspiration for many young people and is a statesman, not a politician. Continue reading →

In an age when negative campaigns are the norm, one icon who consistently won against strong opponents, and yet never went negative, has passed away. Former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. His death is the death of more than just a great legislator, but it’s the death of a dying breed of statesman and an icon. In 1960, Pell was seen as a wealthy dandy with an old New England Yankee family name. However, he was not seen as a likely successor when the patriarchal U.S. Senator Theodore Francis Green (D-R.I.), decided to retire. No one, that is, except Claiborne Pell himself. So while the statehouse pros snickered, and while his opponents—former Governor Dennis Roberts and former U.S. Attorney General J. Howard McGrath—sniped at each other, the pipe-smoking Princetonian Pell put together a campaign that produced fantastic results. Rhode Island’s immigrant minorities French, Italian or Portuguese, combined to form a significant voting bloc and Pell campaigned amongst them and spoke each of those languages fluently. In a state that is 58% Roman Catholic, the Episcopalian Pell carried the primary with a walloping 61% to Roberts’ 33% and McGrath’s abysmal 6%. Continue reading →

I support Roland Burris to be the next U.S. Senator from Illinois. He is a good man, one who I voted for in 2002. You see, that year, I was the campaign manager in the primary for Pat Quinn who was running for Lt. Governor that year. I got to know all the candidates personally and the one who impressed me the most was Roland Burris. As U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Il.) pointed out, correctly, there is no African-American in the U.S. Senate currently. Continue reading →

UPDATE….I have learned Blake did comment. Sorry for the oversight Blake buddy and thanks for the readers who follow along. I hope you are enjoying the blog.

I hope you will visit Blake Rutherford’s blog sometime soon. He really has a number of interesting articles. One which caught my eye was pleasing and disappointing. He did link to someone else’s commentary on the recent movie, MILK, about Harvey Milk. However, Blake didn’t offer his own commentary, but thats ok. I was hoping I’d get some insight into his opinion but thats alright. Continue reading →

Well its happened again. I have ended up in a fight with someone I am close to, this time my older brother, because I have been told being gay is a choice. Hmmm, when and where was I given the choice?

At one point was I offered by the genetics fairy a choice between being attracted to, being safer, being inclined, being able to decide between a boy and a girl? IF this is some choice, then why did all my attempts at dating a female fail miserably and yet my relationships with a male has flourished and been easy.

Where in the Holy Bible can you find me Jesus Christ condeming homosexuality? Please do not refer me to the Kosher Laws or to the Apostle Paul. I am not an Orthodox Jew, nor am I am Paulinian, but a CHRISTIAN….meaning Christ-like. So tell me, where did Jesus Christ even once condemn homosexuality?

Where in my life did I have a choice to say, I will live a life against what a plurality of the world says is “normal.” Where in my life did I have a choice to say my life is now endangered, I am a 2nd Class Citizen, and I am being reduced socially from the “norm” all in the name of a “choice.”

Where is it a fact that being homosexual is all bad and pervasive, violent, drug-induced, and cheap forms of clothing that is leather. Where is this land of straightville where theres no violence, nothing bad ever happens, theres no drugs, and everyone looks like they stepped off the cover of Good Housekeeping?

Where is the right you are given that everytime you hold to your beliefs does it say its okay to dismiss me, discriminate against me, and treat me without respect?